"only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in."
John Muir
"Hello Baby; I'm gone, goodbye . . ."
Mississippi Half Step, Robert Hunter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFtAwxNxLrQ
Earth day thoughts turn to wild places. Anthony Milne is three days from nowhere in a deep canyon in the Marble Mountains. http://www.satelliteviews.net/cgi-bin/g.cgi?fid=256290&state=CA&ftype=locale. Wooley Creek runs cold and fast and the canyon bottom is scoured on the sides and huge trees are tossed everywhere like some stone giants' game of pick-up sticks. The forces required to create the landscape are powerful, and it's unlikely anyone has ever come down here in the in the winter. It's too far and too remote and too obscure. It's just a flat spot at the confluence of two good sized creeks. There are no spectacular vistas or lakes. And it's a downright dangerous place to get to; a misstep and a turned ankle down there and you are fucked. 5 punctured an eardrum there in '87; slipped on a rock and had a red alder twig slide perfectly into his ear canal and boom, agony for hours and then again jumping into Wild lake three days later after forgetting about the whole ear thing. The little bit of pressure had him coming up screaming.
By mid-summer Wooley Creek slows enough for deep pools and impossibly clear swimming holes. There once, summer of '75, and again in summer of '87 with 5 just before starting law school. Summer of '75 was an 11 day school backpacking trip with 26 teenagers and two fairly clueless young adults. Rumor had it we were the first to get down there in two or three years. It's a 4000+ foot descent from the Marbles in seven and a bit miles, which is pretty ok, but once down there its either back out the same way or a three to four day traverse up Bear Wallow pass to Forks of Salmon. We trained for about three weeks carrying loaded backpacks on five mile hikes in the hills of central Marin. I can see the trails we trained on from Anne's porch; close by, sipping a scotch.
In '75 there was to be one layover day at AM but we ended up taking three cause it was so damn beautiful and took a long time to get there. A lot of shenanigans went down in those three days.
We stayed one day more than we should, the way it goes with layover days. If time makes a difference, and it usually does, every day you stay and play means adding the mileage to later, and that last day is one you probably know you should not have and is therefore dampened.
But the two before that were awesome. It was, at 15, the first time I ever felt beastly. Standing on the trail crowing about feeling so good and TF laughing: "Hey Dave just found out he is in shape !"
He was right. There are a handful of other highlights that still resonate; sitting on a rock in the middle of Wooley Creek I'd swum out to holding my flute case over my head. Sat and played the refrain from Mississippi Half Step, riffing on it gently, and having WP come out of the water in her black bathing suit and smile and hang. It was a private moment she chose to share and I was too shy and scared to do anything but fuck up the melody. She was not a beauty but I'll never forget the way she looked, with her wet hair and big smile coming out of the water and up on that rock to join me. She was a mean oboe player to boot.
Maudlin now because IST is about to graduate and I hope he has had such moments, but I fear he has been given less opportunity. He showed no interest in such adventures until very recently and will now soon fly halfway round the world in an effort to lose himself and figure out just who he is. You can't do this for them. Feed, money, drop-off, wait. Me, there have been some long gaps in between, but sitting here now feel, again and still, totally beastly.
Sunday
Walk with Brigid and Rose. Into office after for TRO prep and to CT 4:30. 240 24kg swings and a BUNCH of work as well; her clever 1040 day, 40 slow push-up, 40 dolphin to dolphin plank, 40 burpees and that was the easy part. Just slowing down and finding an ankle joint can be so hard.
Monday, grind all day and into Alameda county superior by 4 for TRO hearing. We'd done our job and the reward was to see Plaintiff's counsel burst into flame under the judge's withering inquiries. We won, not close. We are out by 4:55. Have to chortle and share credit with UC counsel though we all know who did this. Duties done, can you get to late Yoga with EH's gentle self. Fly across the bridge ripping off tie, change and roll out the mat with about 30 secs to spare. 60 minutes, so wound up from four days of grind was not sure could wind down. But 50 minutes and shuttling it slowly down in pidgeon everything let go and just gone, gone, gone.
Home and Brigid has made awesome dinner.
Tuesday. Nothing. That was five kbell workouts in the preceding seven days and time to chill.
Wednesday. Kids get to sleep late and start school at 9:00 which means time to get up early and do work:
That would go like
Long cycle clean and press
Double 20x5
Double 24x5
Single 28x3
Single 32 1x1x2
Single 28's. breezy.
10 24kg Goblet Squats
Assisted pullup, 5+3 14lbs assist
Deck squats, 5 8kg counterbalance to 4kg counterbalance
3x and that's it. No time for ballistics.
Shitty dinner Wednesday
Thursday
Digging out slowly . . .
Up to ct late, nifty series
Snatches 10+9 alternating descending ladder
In between, alternate three clean and double mp or three front squats.
Snatches, go from 16 to 20 at 8/7 to 24 at 6/5 to a lame attempt at 28 3/2, sweat blown grip gonna hurt someone.
Front squats first 3 with 24's, seriously brutal. Drop back to 20's
Mps first with 24's the to 28's for 4. Back to 24's up to 28's for last. Last set best set.
Yee hah.
Friday
A damp and foggy Earth Day. To Pradeep late for 60 minutes of om, om, om.
Get in, they cancelled early class. DISAPPOINTED. 25 minutes of headstand and handstand progression practice and done.
Saturday
Early walk. Get back and Brigid has cooked breakfast. We have not talked about Easter and suggest we skip the baskets 'cause they are older and not really still into it. She looks like I'd punched her. Oops. Gotta get into office, but gotta do this. Spend 90 minutes and a hundred bucks at Cost Plus making baskets with a cheerful sales lady. Got'em done, but that was the workout time.
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